The council has said that the children are “not indigenous white British” and that it had concerns about UKIP’s stance on immigration. The couple themselves have said that Rotherham Council social workers had accused them of belonging to a “racist party”.

If it is a criminal offence to be racist then it must be equally serious falsely to accuse someone of the same.

I am not a member of UKIP but I have voted for them in the past and probably will do so again. To describe its policies as racist is disgraceful and abusive. It also demonstrates an absolute incompetence by Rotherham Council to manage communications and relationships properly.

If people are sent to prison for racist comments on Facebook and Twitter then I expect the same consequences for the council officials and social workers concerned in this case.